Right now, substance is outperforming style. The Red Wings have spent nearly twice as much time on the power play as the Pittsburgh Penguins through three games of the Stanley Cup finals, but they're not getting much from the No. 1 unit, which coach Mike Babcock said has not been as effective as the second team.

"They're doing a better job of getting the puck, winning their battles, shooting the puck, not (passing) across seam all the time and turning pucks over," Babcock said. "It's substance. They shoot it, and they get it back."

The second unit features two net-front players in Franzen and Cleary and a pair of forwards in Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson (who plays the right point) who aren't shy about shooting.

Detroit is 2 for 19 on the power play. Zetterberg scored with 13 seconds to play in Game 1 and Franzen scored Wednesday in Game 3 by plowing his way to the net. The Red Wings have spent 33:01 on the power play, compared to 16:55 for the Penguins, who are 1 for 11.

"Our top group is being a little too fine right now," Babcock said. "But they're real proud guys, and they're smart guys and they know. (Wednesday) before the game, when we were going through the power play and none of the clips were of them, they know."

Zetterberg said the No. 1 unit needs to play more desperate and shoot more.

"I think (in Wednesday's 3-2 Game 3 loss) we were a little bit too cute," Zetterberg said. "We couldn't get a puck to the net and be there for second chances and rebounds."

Holmstrom hoping to practice
The Red Wings are hoping Tomas Holmstrom can practice today. He might have re-aggravated a lower abdominal injury late in the third period Wednesday when he was upended by Penguins defenseman Hal Gill.

"The plan is we're going to see if he can practice (today)," general manager Ken Holland said. "He woke up this morning and didn't feel any worse than last night. (Team doctor) Tony Colucci told me that's a good thing. He wasn't any more swollen today than last night."

Holmstrom missed the final five minutes of the game, including a power play, and was walking with a limp as he left the arena. He missed 13 games with a lower abdominal injury late in the season.

Holmstrom and Gill battled all night. The 6-7 defenseman was penalized twice for cross-checking Holmstrom. Penguins coach Michel Therrien matched-up the defense pairing of Gill and Rob Scuderi against the Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom line and liked the results.

Wings to play outdoors in Chicago?
Reports out of Chicago, which Canadian TV network TSN claimed to confirm, indicate the Red Wings will play the Blackhawks in the NHL's third-ever outdoor game in January, either at Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, or Soldier Field, where the Bears play.

Not so fast, Holland said. He's not even sure that Chicago is confirmed as a site for the game.

"It's not a done deal, but it's a possibility," Holland said. "We have some interest, but there's a bunch of hoops to jump through. There is so many things that need to fall into place for this to be a reality."

The Red Wings don't like the idea of being the visiting team in an outdoor game if it will preclude the league from allowing them to host an outdoor game in the near future, should they opt to pursue such an event. And though no date has been mentioned, the Red Wings would be opposed to playing on Jan. 1 because it would prevent them from hosting their annual New Year's Eve game.